Kansas committee passes ban on Dismemberment abortion

The Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act,SB 95, passed out of the House Federal and State Affairs committee this morning.

The committee rejected a disingenuous 19 page amendment from pro-abortion Rep. John Wilson (D- Lawrence) and passed the bill 14-6 with two absent.

The House will take up the measure for a floor vote, possibly next week. The Senate has already passed the bill and Gov. Sam Brownback has promised to sign it.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer offered testimony in support of SB 95 on Monday, saying no issue in the 2015 session was more important than adhering to the sanctity of life.

“It is remarkable to think anyone could oppose prohibiting a tortuous act that literally dismembers an unborn child limb-by-limb. …just as in the case of partial birth abortion, even many of those who may consider themselves “pro-choice” cannot allow a gruesome procedure like dismemberment abortions to occur in our state.”

SB 95 bars the inhumane and nearly inconceivably painful D&E method of abortion in which the abortionist tears apart a living unborn child in the womb with sharp metal tools.

The legislation was provided by the National Right to Life Committee and tailored for Kansas. It takes into consideration some of the reasoning the U.S. Supreme Court used in 2007 in upholding a ban on partial-birth abortions. In Gonzales v. Carhart, the High Court said,
” the State may use its regulatory power to bar certain procedures and substitute others, all in furtherance of its legitimate interests in regulating the medical profession in order to promote respect for life, including life of the unborn.” (Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 158)